Wall board



1,634,807 July 5 1927' H. F. wmss WALL BOARD Filed OCT.. 2. 1925 INVENTOR Patented July 5, 1927.

UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD F. WEISS, MADISON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

C. F. BURGESS LABORATORIES, INC'., OF DOVER, DELAWARE', A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

wenn BOARD.'

- Application led October 2, 1925. Serial No. 60,0295.

This invention relates to a method for construct-ing and `applying fibre, plaster, pulp and other types of boards having a paper ,or other fibrous surface,f andI lespecially types suited for walls, ceilings, and building construction.

The invention embraces a new method for concealing joints, nails or other fasteners used in applying such boards, so that the wall or other surface made therefrom shall have a continuous surface of the material which forms the Surface of the board. A rlhe invention also includes the product.

'lfhe principal objects of my invention are to provide a simple and efficient means ofconcealing joints, nails or other fasteners, in 'wall boards of the paper lined type, to

eliminate the necessity of using any putty or filler which would form a non-homogeneous surface, and to enable a wall or ceiling to be built of 'wallboards without the necessity of having any panelling or projecting strips of other covering, thus making the linished wall or ceiling look as smooth as a wall built of lath and plaster.

rlhis invention is applicable to fiber boards,

as well as boards made ofother materials,

and especially relates to such boards when applied to building construction to replace lath and plaster. y

Heretoforaswhen wall boards or other composition boards have beenv used in the u V.construction of walls and ceilings, it has been found necessary to conceal the heads of nails, and of joints between the boards, by

means of strips or-panelling. While putty has been used to fill' such cracks and cover such fasteners, this method has been unsatisfactory, for the two different types of surfacing, that is, the aper or other fibrous surfacing of the board; and the putty, are readily distinguishable when painted or calcimined, or-even when finished with a wall paper. Many substitute methods have been devised but none so far has proven entirely satisfactory. My new method eliminates the difficulties experienced with the methods used in the past and furnishes a continuous paper or fiber surface which eectively conceals nail heads and other fasteners, and also the joints.

` All of thel figures are somewhat diagrammatic in character, and show cross-sections through wallboards. Fig. 1 yshows a cleavage plane in the outer 0r finishing. layer or liner ofa wall board. Fig. 2 shows how the then folded back to permit the driving of nails. In Figs. 3 and 5, the liner is cut and folded inra somewhat different manner. In Fig. 4 a strip is cut from the liner and the cut-out so formed is covered with a substi' tute. strip. Fig. 6 illustrates the joint belliner may be cut to the cleavage plane and tween adjacentwa-ll boards afterv the nails material used for liners, and parallel to the face of the liner. I define cleavage plane7 for the purpose of thisinvention as a plane of separation between layers of paper or other' fibrous materials so that the layers may be readily Separated at predetermined areas. Methods for forming such planes will be described hereinafter. rlhe zones of cleavage are located in the board at-the places where the board is to be nailed or otherwise fastened to the structure, that is, these cleavage zones-register'with the studding or other framing to which the board is to be fastened.

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a cross-section of a board containing a cleavage plane made according to `my invention. rlhe central portion, 1, may be of pulp fibre, or plaster, or any other filling used in wall board construction. The liners 2 and 3 may be ofpaper or other fibrous material suitable for surtween certain layers of the paper or other facing boards, and may vary greatly in Both liners, or either 'Vo':r'1`e,.1"nayA 4, for the purpose of thickness. have a cleavage plane, this/invention. Y A, 4

A cleavage plane may be made' by gluing two sheets of covering material together in such a way that the glue is omitted at the and third layers, or between the tlirdfanq.

be inserted Cit titi

fourth layers of the pulp. This thin ribbon will form a cleavage Zone which causes the layers of pulp to be easily separated at the zone. Other methods may be used to form the cleavage zone.

The width of the cleavage zones can be made as desired, but in general they will not need to be over 2, but may vary from 1/2" to 6". The' loca-tion of the cleavage zones can also be varied, but in general, they should be along the edges of the boards and spaced about 16 or 24 apart, or the standard spacing of studding. The cleavage zones can be indicated by markings on the surface of the liners as desired, such markings to be of such a character that they will not dcstroy the continuity of the surface.

TWhen the cleavage zone is distant from the edge of the board, as in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, the surface of this plane is slit with a knife, or other convenient instrument, and is turned back. Such a` knife should be provided with guard wings so adjusted that it will cut into the paper liner, or other fiber surface, only a certain fixed depth, that is, to the cleavage plane.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of a board in which the finishing layer or liner has been slit to tlie cleavage plane and the resulting flap has been turned back, exposing the cleavage zone. This exposedcleavage zone should register with the studding or other framing to which the board is to be fastened. The board is then fastened by mea-ns of nails, or other fasteners, at the exposed ycleavage Zone, as shown in Fig. 2. rlFhe nail,

or other fastener, is driven into the board far enough so that the top of it is flush with -or lower than the exposed surface of the cleavage plane 4. Either the underside of the iiap 5 which has been turned back, or the exposed cleavage plane 4, is coated with glue or some other suitable adhesive and the flap 5 is then replaced to its original position. rlhe nails, or other fasteners, are thereby effectively concealed, and a continuous surface of the finishing layer on the Aiva-ll board forms the surface o f the wall or ceiling, or other structure.

F ig. 3 illustrates a modification of the method shown in Fig. 2. For applying the board, the finishing layer is slit in the same manner, but the layer is peeled away from the cleavage planes on both sides of the slit instead of one side as in Fig. 2.

ln Fig. 4, a double slit is made in the linishing layer or liner and the strip of finishing layer so detached is entirely removed, eI:- posing the cleavage Zone. After the board has been fastened, the strip so removed may be replaced, but, to secure a continuous surface, care must be taken to malte the strip which has been removed register exactly with its former position. lf it is not desired to reuse the strip so removed, another conmy invention to conceal the joints,

cealing strip can be 'substituted A stri of paper 6, or other fibrous material of a out the same character and thickness as the strip removed, but appreciably wider, is pasted or otherwise fastened, by a suitable adhesive, to the cleavage plane, after the board has been fastened to the studding or other framing. As shown in Fig. 4, this strip 6 overlaps the slits on either side of the removed strip but is not pasted to the finishing layer or liner where the overlap occurs; A knife is then used to slit both this strip vand the finishing layer or liner to the cleavage plane at the points A and B in Fig. 4. The trimmings thus formed from the concealing strip and the liner are removed and the concealing strip is then fastened by glue or other suitable adhesive to the cleavage plane. 1n this manner a continuous surface is produced due to the perfect tit of the concealing strip in the depression of the liner.

Fig. 5 shows vthe board after it has been fastened to the studding or framing, with the nails concealed bythe method illustrated in Fig. 3, wth the joint of the two abutting papers directly above the head of the nail.

`When it is desired to conceal a joint such as is caused by two boards butting against one another, as shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9, the procedure is essentially the same. The cleavage zone extends back from the edge of the board a given distance, as shown. The finishing layer may either extend beyond the edge of the board or may be cut back from the edge of the board.

Fig. 6 shows a cross-section of two boards butting against each other with the finishing layer or surface of the liner cut back a certain distance from the joint and with the nails in place, the top of the heads being flush or slightly below the cleavage plane. Vlhe boards may butt tightly against one another or may be left With a space between them as illustrated in Fig. G. lf a space is left between the boards, I prefer to lill this with a suitable putty or other filler so that it will be flush with the cleavage planes.

Fig. 'i' shows one method of carrying out lf the finishing layer or liner has been cutaway so that the edge is a straight line, or approximately straight, a strip of paper, or other fibrous material, of the same thicltness as the finishing layer, wide enough to cover the exposed cleavage zones of both boards is butted against the edge of one of the finishing layers, and is glued, or other- Wise fastened by a suitable adhesive, to the exposed cleavage plane. The paper, or other fiber strip 6 overlaps but is not glued or fastened to the finishing layer which it overlaps. A slitting knife is then run down at the point i3, through both the covering strip and the finishing layer underneath., and

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to the cleavage plane, and the trimmed strips of finishing layer and covering strip are discarded.

The covering strip is then glued, or otherwise fastened, to the cleavage zone and forced down fiush with the finishing layer.

The method of Fig.- 7 may be varied as shown in Fig. 8, in which the covering strip 6 overlaps the finishing layer on both boards and is trimmed and finished in the manner described for Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 shows the finished constructionA with the nails, or other fasteners, in place, and the joint concealed with a covering strip corresponding in thickness and surface texture with the paper or other fiber used in the finishing layer of the board, thereby exposing a continuous homogeneous surface of similar material. The hairline joints at the points Where the finishing layer and covering strip butt together may be disregarded. They are practically invisible.

If the board has been constructed so that the finishing layer extends beyond the edge of the board, as shown in Fig. 10, the method used will be similar to that for Fig. 7, except that the finishing layer is continuous and the joint which appears at the left in Fig. 7 will not be present. The method of making the joint at the right Will be the same as for Fig. 7.

lVliile the illustrations sho7 the use of nails in fastening the boards, other fasteners may be used. The cleavage zon-e may be placed in one liner or both liners, and may be placed close to the surface or ata considerable depth below the surface of t-he liner as appears desirable.

IV all boards expand and contract in varying amounts With changes in temperature and humidity and the joints may therefore be subject to considerable strain. Ordinary -paper or other fibrous material, if used as a coveringv strip over the joints in Walls or ceilings covered with boards which have a large expansion and contraction may not expand and contract sufficiently to prevent breaking of the joint. Under these conditions I have discovered that if the covering strip is creped slightly it contracts and expands sufficiently to prevent such cracking. The creping can be made so slight that it cannot be readily distinguished from the smooth surface of the board, yet this is usually sufcient to compensate for the contraction and expansion of the board.`

Throughout the specification the Word Wall has been used in its generic sense to include not onlj,7 side Walls butalso ceilings and other'like areas.

I claim:

1.- A Wall board Vfaced with a liner having a cleavage plane, the layers of the liner being more readily separable in some portions of saidcleavage plane than in other portions and being adapted to be separated in said readily separable portions to secure it to a support.

2. A Wall board faced With a liner containing cleavage planes, the layers of the liner being more readily separable in spaced parallel zones of said cleavage plane than iu other portions. 3. A Wall board faced with a liner containing cleavage planes, the layers of the liner beingmore readily separable in the portion of the cleavage plane .at an edge of the board and in zones running lengthwise of the board and spaced from the edges of the board than in other portions.

4. A board faced With a liner containing a cleavage plane., the layers of the liner being more readily separable in said cleavage plane in zon-es which are spaced from and parallel to each other than in other portions, the finishing layers covering the cleavage Zone at an. edge of the board and extending beyond said edge.

5. A Wall board faced on both sides with .a fiber liner having cleavage planes, the layers of the liner being more readily separable in some portions of Said cleavage plane t-han in other portions.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HOWARD F. WEISS 

